Airbag lights intermittently

[EdNaviEx]

I did a search and found some suffering from the same problem: The airbag light (NOT the passenger bag), the red light in the cluster, goes on from time to time. Its mostly off, but turns on at random. I did take it to the dealer and OF COURSE the light didn't go on. Apparently the car records the light (code) after a constant 3 hours.

Anyway, I see that some have taken it to the dealer to have it looked at and repaired, how much did it set you guys back?? Is it something a shade tree mechanic can do? (like replacing some sensor).

Thanks

[Special Ringpop]

It shouldn't set you back a single penny. I had this issue happen to not one, but TWO of my airbags, back-to-back, around 25,000 miles. It has never been in an accident, but it did occur after my third gear fix was done (there is a theory that it has something to do with them reinstalling something that pinches the wire, from what I remember).

Anyways, it happened one time, I brought it down, and the light, of course, turned off. They couldn't pull any code and said to come back if it did it again (it's a 20 minute drive). I did this about five times til they finally got it. It only happened from time to time when I had a passenger recently or in certain seatback positions. They found the passenger side seat airbag was malfunctioning.

They replaced it. Two days later, light came back on. Brought it back, and found the passenger side airbag on the dash was malfunctioning.

And to think, I bought my Si for safety and security (way up on my list). My transmission kicks out of gear/grinds, there was a recall for the rear wheel falling off, it has chosen not to start several times, two airbags malfunctioned, and I've had my rear strut replaced a few times.

And Honda still considers my car to be a non-lemon.

All you can do is bring it in and pray the light stays on. They'll give you some useless bullshit about how they need the code to diagnose, but I am almost 100% certain you have the same issue I had.

Godspeed, my friend.

[fox]

special ringpop, i generally think you have good stuff to bring to the table. but sometimes i think you just need to call a waaaaambulance.
all you do is cry and moan. i would agree that it's messed up to have some airbags start to fail.... so get it fixed and problem solved.
stop crying.

[EdNaviEx]

If indeed the airbag sensor or whatever is bad, then the light would STAY ON. There has GOT TO BE something loose. My rig has 48K on the clock so I seriously doubt Honda will foot the bill. Anyway, the service manager told me should the light come on, if I can, take it straight down to the dealer, park right next to the service department and NOT SHUT OFF the car.

[Special Ringpop]

Originally Posted by fox

special ringpop, i generally think you have good stuff to bring to the table. but sometimes i think you just need to call a waaaaambulance.
all you do is cry and moan. i would agree that it's messed up to have some airbags start to fail.... so get it fixed and problem solved.
stop crying.

So by telling the gentleman who is looking for information on the problem a story of what happened to me is suddenly pissing and moaning now? Geez, give it a rest. If you don't like the post, don't read it. It's on topic, move on.

He has the exact same problem as I had, and he wanted to know people's experience. I told him my experience. I don't see any pissing and moaning about granting another user's request for more infomration to be a problem.

He asked, and he received. You don't get to punish someone for being helpful in a thread, answering the topic's question, when you yourself have brought nothing to the table other than to point out that I've complained in the past about my [many, many, many, many] problems.

If I wanted to piss and moan about my car, I'd create a thread for it. Any other time, it's almost always on topic. The beauty of a forum is that it allows you to scroll past posts without having to read it if it's not your cup of tea. If you don't want to read about the problems my car has had in context to the request of the topic or user's question, you are free to scroll down.

And in the future, try to have a little more sympathy for those whose cars have been pieces of **** during their ownership. If it were only limited to problems with the airbag, I wouldn't be so hard on Honda or my car, in general, but it's gone far, far, far beyond that. My service history print out from the dealer (one line entries) is over three pages long. The average car's record, they say, is about a an eighth of a page.

That is all.

[Special Ringpop]

Originally Posted by EdNaviEx

If indeed the airbag sensor or whatever is bad, then the light would STAY ON. There has GOT TO BE something loose. My rig has 48K on the clock so I seriously doubt Honda will foot the bill. Anyway, the service manager told me should the light come on, if I can, take it straight down to the dealer, park right next to the service department and NOT SHUT OFF the car.

That is what I had to do when my EPS died on me. It would go on and off randomly and then come back on. I kept it idling in the parking lot and the tech took it, power steering dead, to get looked at. They caught it that way.

The easiest way I found for the passenger airbag light was to have someone sit in the passenger seat for awhile, have them get out, open the seat, and push it back and lock it. The light would almost always come on or stay on if it already was.

Hence, the malfunction.

[Teegs]

Mine is stuck on now. It was coming on and off and then when i would move my passenger seat forward to access the back it would make the light come on. It is annoying to say the least.

[hybridspl]

Not sure if this applies to you, but some cell phones and laptops and cause interference with the OPDS unit in the passenger seat. If you leave anything like that on your passenger seat, it could be triggering the false/intermittent lights. This was really common in older cars but can still happen. Or your **** may just be broken.

[Special Ringpop]

Originally Posted by Teegs

Mine is stuck on now. It was coming on and off and then when i would move my passenger seat forward to access the back it would make the light come on. It is annoying to say the least.

Yup. That sounds like the same issue I had. I eventually figured out I could replicate it by doing that.

[/\/\ike]

Mine did this and all I did was crawl under my seats and make sure all the connector pins were in there nice and tight and it fixed the issue.

[Teegs]

Originally Posted by /\/\ike

Mine did this and all I did was crawl under my seats and make sure all the connector pins were in there nice and tight and it fixed the issue.

Ill try that out today.

[xvassagox]

Had that problem awhile ago. Dealership found that there was a faulty ground wire in the airbag on the passenger seat. They replaced the airbag for free. Mine would come on if I had someone in the passenger seat so when I took it to the dealer and if the light didn't come on, I just sat in the passenger seat until it lit up so they could pull the code.

[Uncle_Ruckus]

How ironic...I just brought my car into the dealership today for the EXACT issue you are describing here. Turns out it was my passenger side airbag that was defective. My light hadn't been on for at least 2 weeks, and they were still able to pull the code. Just bring it in.

[EdNaviEx]

Originally Posted by Teegs

Ill try that out today.

I'll try that, but I won't hold my breath. If the airbag light stays on continually, THEN I'll take it in.

Thanks for the replys guys!

[EdNaviEx]

UPDATE:

Took her in, turns out a side airbag is defective. They quoted me something like $789.00 for the unit which I told the service manager I REFUSE to pay. I also told him that my civic was only 2 years old and that this was extremely unlikely. The intermittant light is proof of that. If the light would be continously lit, I would believe something was wrong. I was told he was going to "check it out" for me. This was Thursday and its now Saturday, I haven't heard anything..............BTW, the airbag (red) light HAS NOT come on since...............so WTF????

[Teegs]

I tightened all the plugs below the seats and that solved the problem.

[EdNaviEx]

Originally Posted by Teegs

I tightened all the plugs below the seats and that solved the problem.

OH, I thought you were talking about the passenger front airbag..........I'll try that........THANKS!

[Chase]

Originally Posted by fox

special ringpop, i generally think you have good stuff to bring to the table. but sometimes i think you just need to call a waaaaambulance.
all you do is cry and moan. i would agree that it's messed up to have some airbags start to fail.... so get it fixed and problem solved.
stop crying.

haha right on, about a year ago I got so fed up with his whining that I blocked him. I can't even see his post and I love it!

[KuRRu]

i wouldn't call it complaining... I had a friend who had a speed6 with a huge 3 page list of problems and he had to keep driving his car 2 hours each way to have work done. Yea it was all under Warranty but it was a huge hassle. He missed work and would have to hang around and wait or give him some baseline crap loaner. He eventually just got rid of the car. I got rid of my Toyota and will no longer do any business with them after my defective pre-cat problem that is blowing motors up and they dont wanna take responsibility for it.

I just suggest you go that route... stick to the tried and true. Sell the car and get something new maybe?

Sorry to drift the thread my g/f's civic si is havin the same problem witht he red airbag light guy. Just came on in middle of driving. right after a 3rd gear pop out and grind (Go figure)... Going outside to play around with the wires under the seats and see if anything is just too lose.

[KuRRu]

just noticed when no one is in the passenger seat the "passenger airbag off" doesn't light up. So i'm guessing it has something to do with the seat sensor???